A Different Take
by quantumchickpea
Summary: What if Adrien knew who Ladybug was? What if he tried to get her to figure out that he was her partner? This is a different take on the ending of Troublemaker in Season 2. ThatCrazy Miraculer inspired me to write this alternate version. WARNING: TROUBLEMAKER SPOILERS.


**Note: This was brought up by a youtuber friend, ThatCrazy Miraculer. So, I wanted to write it. haha Thanks for reading and favoriting! :)**

Adrien hid behind the set of lockers, as he watched Marinette sneak into the locker room. He stood very still and watched her slip towards her locker, as quietly as, she could.

She really hoped that she wouldn't run into Adrien, let alone Chat Noir. She didn't want to have to explain herself and she was worried that she would have to. She had been going over what she would say, if she had run into one of them. Which meant, she didn't sleep at all. She was too busy going over the conversations with Tikki.

Marinette put her backpack into her locker and a smug smile crossed her face, as she realized that she had made it without being noticed by Adrien or Chat. She let out a loud sigh, as she felt all of her anxiety lift from her shoulders. She said a little thank you to whoever was with her that day to grant her such good luck. She had managed to evade everyone at the school, including her best friend Alya and her boyfriend, Nino.

"Hopefully… he didn't see me." She closed her locker door and closed her eyes, relaxed.

"Hey there, Marinette." Adrien spoke and was taken aback, as she screamed and jumped in surprise. His smile fell into a straight line, as he became concerned. "How's it going? After what happened at your place last night… I was worried that-" He awkwardly looked away with concern. He didn't want to scare her off and he didn't want her to know right away that he knew who she was.

"Oh! So, you watched the show then…" She giggled and closed her eyes, embarrassed, before she looked away. She couldn't meet his eyes. "Well… um…" She looked back to his emerald eyes with a saddened expression. "Look. About what you saw in the show. The Totographs in my room…"

Adrien looked at her in surprise, before his expression turned to confusion, as he clutched his bag. "You mean… the photographs?"

She suddenly moved towards him and he flinched with a glare, as she glared at him and shook her finger into his face. "THE GROTOGRAPHS! EXACTLY!" She pointed at him accusingly and he just glared at her in return.

He never understood why she got the way she did. It confused him most of the time.

Marinette took in his irritated expression and softened hers, while she brought her hands into her chest and smiled shyly at him, as her anxiety rose. "It's… it's not what you think."

His expression softened and he relaxed and listened to her again. After all, she was his Lady.

"See.." She looked at him with admiration, as she brought her hands to her sides. "I'm really into fashion and mmm…" She looked away from him.

He looked at her, as if, he was processing whether she was lying or not. He wondered if she knew that he was Chat Noir. A part of him wanted to see if she would notice that he was her partner, like he had noticed that she was his. He watched her closely, before he finally made the decision to pick on her and let her see a part of him, that he didn't usually show people.

He leaned into her with an accusing expression. "Are you lying…?" His lips turned up in a smirk, as he gave her a very chat-like expression.

Marinette became flustered and she peered up into his eyes. She took in the way his eyes looked at her, the way his lips curled into Chat Noir's signature smirk. She took in how he searched her bluebell eyes waiting for her to come up with the answer and for her to connect the dots.

' _C'mon… Marinette… Bugaboo...put it all together for me….'_ Adrien thought in his head, as he waited meer inches from her.

Her eyes were wide, her lips were parted, as she blinked. ' _Figure it out…'_ Adrien patiently stared at her, never letting his expression fade.

Marinette moved her lips to speak, but words wouldn't form. Adrien waited, as long as, he could. He slumped his shoulders with a sigh, before Marinette yanked him by the collar of his white overshirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Adrien's hands clasped around her wrists, as he made a sound of shock, before he sighed into the kiss.

Marinette pulled him closer by his shirt, before she suddenly pushed him away. "Silly, kitty…"

"I thought you'd never figure it out, Bugaboo…" Adrien sighed, exhausted.

Marinette stumbled back and her hand hit one of the lockers, as Adrien quickly caught her by the small of her back. "You okay, m'lady?"

"Yeah. yeah. I'm okay. Just shocked is all. When did you find out?" Marinette whispered, as she peered into his eyes.

"When you were missing the earring. I saw your leg and noticed what pants you were wearing… I didn't know for sure, but… for some reason I knew it was you. Remember what I said to you on your balcony?" Adrien peered at her with a smirk.

"You said…" Marinette tapped her bottom lip in thought.

Adrien smirked and smiled at her, while he spoke with his hand. "I already know who you are…" He took Marinette's hand in his and bowed down to graze the back of her knuckles with his lips, before he peered up into her surprised eyes. "You're the girl of my dreams." He watched her with love filled eyes and stood up straight.

"I- I don't know what to say." Marinette stumbled on her words. "But Hawkmoth… he'll know… it'll be dangerous if one of us gets within his grasp. We can't- we can't know this… It's not-"

"Safe?" Adrien raised an eyebrow at her. "I know it's not safe, but we can get through whatever comes our way together. Like we always do. We'll work hard to make sure that we don't get akumatized. I promise. I said I'd protect you with my life, didn't I?" He wrapped his arm over her shoulders and she quietly squealed and peered up at him with a smile, as her cheeks blushed.

"So, I was wondering." Adrien dropped his arm from around her shoulders and peered down at her with a smile. "Since you're into fashion so much… You can come watch my next photoshoot…" He watched her, as her shoulders raised and grew excited.

"No way… for you, mew- for real?!" She brought her hands to her chest and stiffened with excitement.

"Honestly… it's pretty long and boring, but if you were there… It would definitely be more fun." He gestured towards her and she became more and more excited with each one of his words.

"What do you say?" He dropped his hand and she turned away with excitement.

"OH WOW! YESSSS!" Marinette threw her hands into the air, above her head, without thinking as, her bottled up excitement exploded out of her. She suddenly realized what she had done and dropped her arms to her sides, sheepishly. "Thank you, Adrien." Her voice dropped in volume and she looked at him slightly embarrassed by her own reaction.

Adrien chuckled at her. "I'll keep you posted then. See you in class." He gave her one last kiss on the cheek, before walking towards the door of the locker room.

She watched him with red tinged cheeks, before he turned to look over his shoulder at her. "Oh, and by the way? I'm glad that it was you. I wouldn't want it to be any different. You're amazing Marinette with or without the suit." He waved at her with a warm smile, before he closed the door behind him.

Marinette grinned from ear to ear and jumped around, after he had left. He was not only her kitty, but she had kissed him. He also had invited her to a photoshoot and she was so excited. But the realization that she had kissed him, made her suddenly panic and fall into a crouch, while she gripped the front of her hair.

Tikki zipped out of her purse and shook her head. "Oh Marinette…"

"I kissed Adrien!" Marinette leaped for joy, once the initial shock wore off. "Tikki! I kissed him! He invited me to his photoshoot! He's my kitty…" The realization of all of the times she had turned him down as Ladybug hit her at once. "Tikki! He's Chat… that means… I pushed Adrien away this whole time… I'm such a dummy!"

"You didn't know… besides he friendzoned you over and over again…" Tikki giggled. "I think you both were blind."

Marinette giggled and got up to head to class. "I guess you're right. Guess I have a lot to talk to my Kitty about tonight on patrol." Marinette opened her purse for Tikki to land in.

"I agree." Tikki hummed and took a bite of a cookie with a warm smile.

Marinette smiled with her eyes closed and headed to class to sit behind Adrien, as usual. But this time she knew he was so much more than a crush. He was a partner, a best friend, and a soulmate.


End file.
